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Now Amazon wants the keys to your auto, too, for package deliveries

Apr 25 2018 by Kate Woods

On the day a package is scheduled for delivery, customers can use the Amazon Key app to confirm that their auto is parked in a place where a delivery can be made. It's available for free to AmazonPrime members with GM or Volvo cars that are 2015 or newer and also have an active OnStar or Volvo on Call account.

This is how it works: Prime members with the Amazon Key app can link their vehicle to their accounts and select "in-car" delivery during checkout. Amazon says it plans to add more cities over time, but for now, the newAmazon Key In-Car service is seeing a limited roll out.

What is a connected vehicle service plan?

Amazon Prime members may soon be able to have their packages delivered right to their vehicles. The company also ships to Amazon Lockers, which are private kiosks at more than 2,000 locations across the U.S. The company said it plans to eventually roll out the service to more cities and auto models. Consumers will have to determine if they feel Key-in-Car is a safer option. Prime members can have packages delivered to a vehicle when it's parked in a publicly accessible area.

Amazon has recently announced new ways of deliveries and the latest involves putting packages in auto trunks.

First you download the Amazon Key app to your phone, then link the app to your Prime account and to the vehicle. Customers can track when their auto was unlocked and relocked via the app's activity feed; they also have the ability to rate the in-car delivery. After all, some experts say, many drivers now pay parking meters using an app on their phones, and rely on navigational services that know their location at any given time. Then you can verify the zip code of your home or workplace to see if it's eligible for delivery. The company's main aim is to create the fastest delivery system on the market and that, as it happens, includes the cases when you are not in the comfort of your home. They simply have to choose a two-hour delivery window to receive their orders.

For city residents like myself, the promise of in-car delivery is a game changer.

"We were really happy with the response to in-home delivery", Peter Larsen, vice president of delivery technology at Amazon, told The Verge .